The Red Comet
by The Guarding Dark
Summary: After attempting to drop Axis onto the earth. Char finds himself in a time he does not recognize. A different world. An enemy far more sinister than any he has faced before. And a humanity in desperate need of a hero.
1. Chapter 1

**The Red Comet**

 **-G-  
**  
Char hurt.

He hurt in places he didn't think it was possible to hurt. Every part of him ached, and shifting or moving only seemed to make the pain go someplace else one his body. He groaned, and slowly opened his eyes.

He did not see the Nu Gundam. He did not see Axis. He saw nothing more then then a smattering of twinkling stars, shining through a dense and gaseous nebula. He sat bolt upright. His faculties rapidly returning to him as he looked wildly to and fro.

Where in the hell was he?

No nebulae of that size and density existed near earth. Come to think of it, where exactly was the earth?  
He gingerly took the controls of the Sazabi, (but hadn't it been destroyed?) and did some careful maneuvers. Looking around for any sign of the blue and green jewel that he and Amuro had been about to crash into.

But there was nothing.

The earth was nowhere to be found. There was not even the comforting shapes of the colonies to be seen. Char gripped the controls perhaps more tightly than he ought to. And took a slow, deep breath.

If he was not near earth. Then where was he? How far out in deep space had he gone? He checked the Sazabi's diagnostics. And found himself pleasantly surprised.

Weapons, fully loaded.

Funnels, all accounted for, and in good working order.

Fuel levels, nominal.

Whatever divine act of providence had restored the Sazabi. Char hardly cared. He could hardly put the Sazabi to any real use if he had no obvious destination to which he could travel. And as this realization sank in. Char found himself feeling, for perhaps the first time in his life. Utterly helpless.

As he reflected on the seeming hopelessness of his situation. His attention was drawn by one of the Sazabi's display monitors. It was flashing a frantic red. A sign of a transmission consistent with a distress signal. He touched the screen. And waited as the Sazabi's communication system went to work decoding the signal. Char felt no small sense of relief as he heard voices, human voices, on the other end.

"-vilians on board! The Covenant are overwhelming us! If anyone can hear us. Help, please!"

Char frowned, Covenant? What was that? He knew of no organization with such a name anywhere in the earth sphere. Nonetheless, he hardly supposed it mattered. If he could intercede on the behalf of those that had called for aid. He might just be able to earn a berth. For both himself and the Sazabi. And besides, it was not in his nature to turn his back on spacenoids in need.

With a look of hardened determination. Char input the commands necessary to triangulate the signal, and then slammed forward the throttle. Blasting off into the unknown.

 **-G-  
**


	2. Chapter 2

"Alert, at current velocity, endpoint will be reached in approximately two and a half minutes."

Char was jarred into sudden wakefulness as the Sazabi's onboard intelligence chimed a brief message, he stretched languidly in the pilot's seat, loosening his muscles and relaxing himself for what could very well be a combat engagement.

"Any preliminary data?'

Char asked, he had sent a funnel ahead to act as scouting unit, It had enough scanners to act as a probe, though he had been unable to capture any visual feeds.

"At least 40 abnormally high tonnage vessels in orbit surrounding Earth-like terrestrial planet. Local radio chatter identifies as Carthaginia. Scans of local orbit suggest sustained use of ship grade directed energy weaponry. In addition, the wreckage of approximately 97 significantly lower tonnage vessels. Of apparently far different make and design. Is detected in orbit."

Char frowned.

"Abnormally high tonnage? Explain."

The console beeped again.

"Scans indicate smallest vessels detected by scan possessed overall length of 950 meters, the largest was at least 25 kilometers."

Char swallowed a suddenly very large lump in his throat. That simply couldn't be right, no one anywhere in the Earth sphere built ships that absurdly big. Not Zeon, not the Federation, No one.

"Computer, please repeat. I'm not sure I heard that right."

"Negative, scans are within range of 90% accuracy."

Char exhaled loudly, totally mystified. What in the hell was going on?

 **-G-**

Fleet Master Sedra Ilda'ree splayed his lower mandibles apart in his species approximation of a smirk. Gazing in dark satisfaction as the fleet of Prejudicial Wrath laid waste to the world the humans called Carthaginia. Sedra shuddered, even thinking the filthy human word left him feeling unclean.

It had been a fairly standard purge thus far. They had come, the vermin had mounted a pitiful and ineffectual defense. And had been crushed. Now it was simply a matter of time before the rest of their orbital force broke. Surprisingly they had held on remarkably well in this regard. It rankled to even mentally acknowledge the loss of the three corvettes and two destroyers the humans had managed to destroy. They had either been extraordinarily lucky, or had a highly competent Fleet Master leading them. In either case, it mattered not at all. They would burn, like all the rest.

 **-G-**

Char looked down at a display monitor. In just a few more minutes he would be within visual range of the planet.

"Computer, display operational status of the funnels."

There was an acknowledging chime from control console as the display lit up. And the status of each individual funnel was shown. All in working order, good.

He had consumed about 15% of his fuel in the four hours it took to get within range of the origin of the distress beacon. That left more than enough fuel to fight at peak combat efficiency for a maximum of 5 hours. Assuming that the opposing MS pilots weren't too skilled.

 **-G-**

The hull of the UNSC Carrier Red Fern, groaned from the stress of repeated impacts. And Pilot Anna Berleen grimaced as she listened to her ship cry out in pain and discomfort. As she slipped on her flight helmet and strode into the hangar bay. Where her GA-TL4-Gladius fighter sat waiting. It was smaller than most fighters in the UNSC arsenal, at just 15 meters long. And was more lightly armored. But the payoff was a level of maneuverability few others could match.

Anna smiled as she climbed the ladder and lowered herself into the cockpit, hitting the button to lower the canopy. And briefly checking essential systems before launch.

"Control, this is Romeo Actual. Systems are green. Ready on your go."

The was a brief crackle of white noise as Flight Control responded.

"Copy Romeo Actual, Catapult is yours."

Anna grinned in giddy anticipation as she slowly pushed forward the throttle.

"Understood, Romeo Actual, taking off!"

She slammed forward the throttle, and was forced back into her seat as the fighter accelerated. And she rocketed away from the Red Fern.

Things looked grim. The wreckage of a UNSC Battlegroup hung in orbit. The mass grave of thousands of brave sailors. And it didn't look much better for those that remained. The Covenant fleet was eagerly tearing its way through what ships still fought. Commander Barnes had earned himself a spot in the history books for all he had done today. But against a force as Implacable as this. The only worthwhile actions were ones of delay.

Anna's earpiece beeped, signaling an incoming message.

"Lieutenant, there's a group of civilian transports escaping into orbit. Your job is simple, ward off enemy fighters, and escort the transports to the Red Fern."

She took a deep breath as she checked weapons systems. All seemed to be in good working order.

"Understood control, can i expect any support?"

"Affirmative, expect support from elements of the third, eighth, and sixteenth aerial divisions."

Anna felt a jolt of anticipation as the transports came into sight. Each moving at a snail's pace when compared to a fighter.

Suddenly a burst of adrenaline, as automatic plasma fire whizzed past. Missing her by mere feet. She pulled into a sharp upward turn. Accelerating as she did. The Seraph followed close behind, harassing her with plasma fire. She grimaced as she suddenly banked, hard. Just barely missing the wreckage of a UNSC frigate as its remains tumbled in orbit. The Seraph was not so lucky. It turned, but only fast enough to not be destroyed. It skidded a few feet off the hull of the ruined ship. The impact causing its shields to fizzle, and then dissipate to nothing.

Anna smirked as she spun up a missile and pulled the trigger. Smirking as it streaked towards its target and exploded. Reducing the Seraph to shiny blue scrap metal.

She turned away and back towards the transports where she could already see other Seraph's trying their luck at wholesale civilian slaughter.She sent a storm of depleted uranium rounds at one particularly aggressive Seraph as it dove at the transports. It veered hastily away, and Anna gave chase. Whittling the teardrop shaped fighter's shields away, until they winked out. And she sent another missile streaking after it. Claiming her second kill of the day.

Again and again it went on. As each kill blended into the next. And she began to lose track as each fell one after another. She was only peripherally aware of the support provided by her fellow pilots. As they hunted any stragglers she didn't turn to slag.

The Covenant may have had superior tech. But the UNSC would always have the better pilots.

But even still.

There were just too many. For every one she destroyed, another two slipped through to wreak havoc anew. If they could not best the the UNSC through acumen of skill. Then they would simply smash their way through with sheer weight of numbers. A simplistic doctrine, but damned if it wasn't effective.

She brought herself behind another Seraph and squeezed the trigger. Smirking in dark satisfaction as the alien craft was shredded into scrap by the depleted uranium rounds. Though her good spirits decayed as she took note of her ammo counter.

She couldn't keep this up much longer.

 **-G-**

On the Covenant corvette Clarity Of Purpose. A console that sat before the Sangheili officer responsible for the communications and sensor arrays, suddenly went off. Signaling the presence of an unknown quantity.

The officer furrowed his brow. An expression his species shared with humans. And tapped the holo-screen. Staring intently at the readings on screen. It could've been nothing. But it was better to be safe than dead. He raised his head.

"Shipmaster, an unidentified object moves through the debris field."

The shipmaster turned to regard him.

"What is it? Some sort of human ballistic weapon?"

The comms officer glanced back at his console.

"No honored superior, not judging by its pattern of flight. I would guess some sort of fighter platform. But it's moving at-"

His eyes widened.

"Three times normal speed!"

The shipmaster was suddenly very alert.

"Distance?"

The comms officer feverishly input commands to his console.

"500 meters and closing. Shipmaster, I strongly suggest we-"

Whatever else he had planned to say was suddenly and permanently silenced by an enormous explosion. As the particle beam of one of the Sazabi's funnels boiled through the unshielded hull of the alien craft. And directly into the ship's main reactor. And the Clarity Of Purpose disappeared in a bright purple atomic fireball.

Char smirked as he briefly felt the minds of his alien foes wink out. Once he'd been able to feel them out with his newtype abilities. It had become quite clear who his enemies were.

These creatures. Whatever they were, carried a malevolent hatred for humanity.

Char supposed that made things rather easy as to which side he was on.

He tightened his focus as he turned his attention to his next target. Another of the creatures smaller ships. Whose weapons had finally turned on him. He sped toward the alien vessel. Dodging plasma torpedoes with contemptuous ease as his mobile suit gripped the handle of a beam saber and activated it. Diving down upon the Corvette. And stabbing the craft fore before dragging the blade all the way through the aft sections, almost bisecting the alien vessel as his beam saber ignited fuel lines. Causing further secondary explosions all around the thoroughly ruined ship.

The Sazabi rocketed away from the ruined Corvette as its reactor overloaded. Swallowing the wreckage of the alien vessel in a nuclear fireball.

Char smirked. He hadn't had this much fun since the battle of Loum!

"Alright."

He said.

"Let's try for two more!"

 **-G-**

"Commander! Are you seeing this?!"

Barnes could. And he still couldn't believe it. Whatever it was, it was wreaking merry havoc amongst the enemy fleets rearguard, tearing its way through their lower tonnage vessels. It almost didn't seem real. It had seemed to come from nowhere. Striking down anything that stood before it. Like some bloody avenging angel.

Barnes didn't stay flabbergasted long.

"Whatever it is, it's giving us some breathing room! We'd be idiots not to use it!"

He turned to his comm officer. And began barking orders.

"Order the cruisers to divert some fire to cover the carriers. Those go down, the refugees go with them. Tell the destroyers to focus fire on the lead supercarrier. See if we can cut the head off this snake."

He watched the viewscreen intently, as the red humanoid robot claimed its 7th kill of the day. This time an enemy frigate.

"And then get me a comm line to whatever that thing is."

 **-G-**

Char was confused.

As he bisected another one of the enemy's teardrop shaped mobile armors. He frowned. Where were their mobile suits? There wasn't a modern military force anywhere in the Earth Sphere that didn't always have at least a few on hand. So it stood to reason that a military this advanced would have mobile suits of its own.

Right?

And yet, despite every military doctrine taught to him in the Zeon Officers Academy. Despite the fact that it was commonly held wisdom in the Universal Century that mobile suits we're an integral part of any modern military stratagem. Neither side of the opposing factions had anything even remotely resembling a mobile suit.

Char simply couldn't reconcile it. But he placed it in the back of his mental headspace. And returned his full attention to the battle. Another alien mobile armor attempted to flank the Sazabi. Only to be scythed in half by the beam of a funnel. The blazingly hot energy beam slicing through the alien craft like a hot knife through butter.

Char continued to singlehandedly maul the alien fleet. Leaping from one small ship to the next, leaving twisted fiery wrecks in his wake. No enemy fire could touch him. There were points where he almost started to laugh from the pure exhilaration of it all. He hadn't felt this alive in a very long time.

Suddenly, as he used the torso mounted beam cannon to turn four enemy mobile armours into a fiery conflagration. His communicator suddenly chimed.

He was being hailed.

He carefully thumbed the command that would open his comms. And listened intently as whoever was on the other side spoke.

"Unidentified robotic fighter platform. Please identify yourself, your origin, and your current combat objective."

Char weighed his options. He could understand them. Which meant they were most certainly human. On the other hand, how could he be sure they could be trusted? They might sooner lock him in an interrogation room and seize the Sazabi. But as he continued to consider. He realized he hadn't much choice. He would be given no berth with his alien foes. And he would probably live for at least a little while longer in the care of the human force.

He tapped out the command to send a transmission of his own. And began to speak.

"This is-"

He paused suddenly, he had not used his true name in a long time. But what Secrets did he have to keep here?

"-Casval Rem Deikun. I am from a long way away. And I am here to help you."

 **-G-**

Barnes sighed in relief to hear the obviously human voice on the other end. Though that still left a plethora of new questions. Who was this Casval? And where had he obtained such an impressive piece of hardware? Was it some sort of stolen Covenant weapon?

"You have no idea how relieved I am to hear that, truthfully I feared you would turn on us once you dealt with the Covenant."

The man responded, his voice seemingly confused.

"Covenant, that's the second time I've heard that today. I assume it refers to these aliens you're fighting?"

Barnes recoiled, genuinely taken aback. How did he not know about the covenant? Where was he from? He shook his head. Questions for another time.

"Yes, our enemy are called the Covenant. We've been at war with them for the last five years. They made it pretty clear they want every human alive six feet under."

The man on the other end took a moment before responding.

"I see."

He said simply. Suddenly an Image of the Covenants lead ship appeared on screen. A Supercarrier.

"Your escape could be facilitated far more easily if this ship was either disabled or destroyed."

Barnes scoffed.

"Easier said than done. Those shields are a tough nut to crack. And that's not considering its escort. We'd have to take every other ship in their fleet out of commission if we wanted a crack at-."

"Understood."

Barnes watched as the red mech suddenly blasted off toward the heart of the covenant battlegroup. His jaw dropped, surely the madman didn't mean to-!

He winced and covered his eyes briefly as the red mech let loose with its main rifle. The bright yellow beam making his eyes water even as his hands shielded his eyes. The cruiser it had targeted listed, It's shield shimmering in an iridescent light show.

"Follow up shots! Archer pod banks 12 through 24!"

His officers quickly scraped their jaws from the floor, and scrambled into action. For a weapon of that size to have done something like that….

The missiles flew, crowding the empty space between the Red Fern and the Covenant Cruiser like a swarm of angry wasps. The Cruiser's point defense batteries swatted a few of the archers from the sky, but the rest found their marks, weakening and then breaking through the Cruiser's already battered shields. Blowing holes into the ship's hull and exposing massive sections of its innards to the unforgiving vacuum. Barnes felt himself smile as he watched the once seemingly unassailable covenant ship list helplessly before falling into Carthaginia's gravity well, It's various sections breaking off as they burned up in atmosphere. He took a deep breath as he recognized the emotion swelling in his chest.

Hope, he had almost forgotten what it felt like.

 **-G-**

Char watched with a sense of grim satisfaction as the alien vessel plummeted into the planet's atmosphere. Atmospheric entry friction reducing the thoroughly ruined ship's hull to slag as it fell. Already his eyes were on another target, a smaller but no less dangerous looking ship. The Sazabi's beam rifle sounded off, its yellow beam shrieking a cry of destruction and murder. It slammed against the alien destroyers shields, facing brief resistance in comparison to the larger ships shields. Before tearing through them and carving into the hull like a hot knife through butter.

The ship buckled under the impact. And Char watched in bemusement as the destroyers hull visibly rippled from the force of the explosions contained within the newly made floating deathtrap, for a civilization with such advanced technology, their engineering was piss poor.

Another shot, this time aimed at another one of the larger ships. Though this time, he added a follow up shot. And it struck just as the first shot had dispersed against the ships shimmering shields. It finished the first shots work. Boiling through the hull and striking various secondary systems, and igniting a small section of fuel lines. Though Char noted with some disappointment that the effects of his assault were somewhat subdued when leveled at ships of such colossal size.

Though he supposed it hardly mattered. He thought, as he watched another cloud of missiles swarm the crippled beast of a ship. Tearing into the hull, and securing another opening in the increasingly widening hole of the Covenants defenses.

 **-G-**

Sedra watched in horror as the the Divine Mandate, Fal's Claw, and A Prayer Beyond. Went up in flames. Their burning wrecks acting as beacons to signal this, his most grievous failure. What unholy abomination had the Humans unleashed upon them?

"Excellency!"

He was snapped back to terrible reality as he rounded on one of his officers. Whose voice

broke off as Sedra turned his gaze upon him.

"What?'

He said, his voice barely above a whisper.

"The fleet has been thrown into disarray. The other shipmasters seek direction!"

Sedra inhaled deeply. His expression stormy as he spoke his next words.

"Order a full retreat, we are leaving this system."

His entire bridge crew as one sangheili recoiled, and he saw looks of mutinous fury on more than a few faces.

"Excellency?!"

One voice said in disbelieving shock.

"You would have us flee like cowards?!"

Roared another.

It took all the considerable willpower that Sedra possessed not to bow his head in the face of their baleful expressions.

"The relic we were sent to collect has been secured. And High Charity must know of this new threat."

His communications officer looked as though he wished to protest. But bit back whatever he wished to say. And simply put his fist to his heart.

"As you command."

 **-G-**

Barnes slumped into his command chair. Watching in mute disbelief as the remaining Covenant ships turned as one, and fled. His bridge crew was engaged in a show of raucous jubilation, men and women standing from their stations to embrace one another in celebration. And Barnes could see unashamed tears of joy on more than a few faces. He could hardly believe it. But against all odds, and against all expectations.The day had been won.

 **-G-**

 **Hey. Long time coming huh? Well, I'll be better about that. I promise. In other news. I have a Twitch, sometimes I stream on there. If you feel as if that's something you would be interested in. Give It a follow. Just look up**

 **TheGuardingDark on Twitch.**

 **(I'd put a URL but Fanfiction apparently thinks that a no no.)**


End file.
